Author: John Paulsen (Page 591 of 937)

Let the retooling begin…

The Green Bay Packers have fired defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and five assistant coaches, four on defense.

In addition to Sanders, defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn, defensive ends coach Carl Hairston, secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer, cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington.

The only defensive coaches who were retained was assistant head coach / linebackers Winston Moss and quality control assistant Joe Whitt Jr.

McCarthy also fired strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson.

The move suggests that coach Mike McCarthy will hire a defensive coordinator who will have a say in which assistants he brings with him. The leading candidate would be former San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan, who hired McCarthy as his offensive coordinator in 2005 and is close to the current Packers coach.

The defense really struggled this season. The Packers were 20th in total yards allowed, 22nd in points allowed and 26th against the run. Last season, they were 11th, 6th and 14th in those categories, respectively. Consistent pass rush was always a problem and the Packers just could not stop the run when they needed to. They were second (to Houston) in points allowed in the fourth quarter, which explains why they went 0-7 in games decided by four points or less.

He looked like a genius in 2007, but if not for that, there would be a strong possibility that McCarthy should be shown the door as well. One more season like this and he’ll be gone too.

I like the idea of bringing Mike Nolan in to run the defense. The 49ers weren’t terribly good when he was there, but the defense was solid and my guess is that Nolan is hungry to rehab his reputation as a top defensive mind.